5 Teacher Supply Must-Haves

As July wraps up, most teachers are already buying or making lists of things they need for their classroom for the new year. Office supplies? Uh...YES, please :). Over the years I have hoarded collected many different teaching tools or supplies and feel that the ones listed below are absolutely essential.

1. Personal Laminator / Laminating Pouches

Y'all...I don't know how I lived my life before buying my own personal laminator. I guess I liked spending my time always waiting for the school's laminator to heat up...or for someone to order new lamination.

Teacher confession time: I may have 3 laminators. If you are a teacher and you don't own one of these yet, buy one! You will not be disappointed. The laminator pictured is the one I use the most. It heats up quickly and is a great size for storage. If you are interested in buying it - check it out HERE on Amazon.

Cheap Teacher Tip: The Scotch brand laminating pouches are wonderful, but they are expensive. Save yourself some money and order a large pack of off-brand pouches from Amazon. The 3 mil and 5 mil thickness are both great. I've tried and tested the following pouches and give them 5 stars. Click on the pictures to go to the Amazon link.

2. Colorful Pens

I don't know about you...but colorful pens make writing so much better. Anecdotal notes become pleasing to the eye. Tackling that calendar? Look how organized it is with your colors! Doodling Taking notes during a staff meeting? Perfect!

Flair pens are in most Teacher bags. I love Flair pens, but I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I found some pens that I like EVEN MORE than the glorious Flairs.

Staedtler Triplus Fineliner Pens

These pens are amazing. They don't smudge or bleed. The tip is very fine for those itty-bitty spaces. You can buy the 20 pack (it comes with the awesome case that turns into a stand) HERE or the mega 36 pack HERE.

3. Sheet Protectors

Don't have time to laminate? Throw it in a sheet protector! Let's get real people...we don't always have time to laminate, but you know better than giving your students a page without some kind of sticky hand barrier.

I love to put games in sheet protectors! I can quickly store the set of games in a binder or in a folder. Students can also use dry erase makers right on the sheet protector. If you get the glossy ones, they wipe off beautifully!

These are heavy duty and last a long time! Pick some of these up HERE.

4. Mr. Sketch Markers

Anchor charts NEED Mr. Sketch Markers. They are vibrant and bold. I also love to walk around and put a dot on papers of the ON TASK students. They sniff that little dot like they won a Grand Prize!

5. Staple Gun

I spent 8 years of my teaching career in a portable. This portable had wood paneling on the walls. Boring, brown, wood paneling. As a teacher who likes the room to be bright and colorful, I had to cover up most of the walls. I learned that the quickest way to get your anchor charts and cute bulletin boards up is with a staple gun. Sure your normal Swingline will work just fine...but a staple gun gets everything done in a snap!

This is the one that I've had for 10 years of teaching. It is basic, but gets the job done!